Poultry fountain



July 28, 1931. JOHNSTON 1,816,781

POULTRY FOUNTAIN Filed Aug. 11, 1927 awue/wboz lm/ mesa A rrslan Patented July 28, 1931 PATENT OFFICE JOHN A. JOHNSTON, PROVO, UTAH POULTRY FOUNTAIN Application filed August 11, 1927. Serial- No. 212,261.

The present disclosure of the invention relates to a drinking fountain for poultry, said fountain embodying a water container and a novel form of guard therefor which will prevent the chicks or chickens, as the case may be, from walking into the container, while permitting them to insert their heads when drinking, it being understood that the guard may have its guard members spaced 1e ,lifierent distances apart, according to whether the device is to be used for chicks, grown poultry, etc.

It is the object of the invention to provide a drinking fountain or perhaps a container for feed, equipped with a novel form of. guard which is held in place by engagement of resilient guard members with an outstanding rim on the water or other container, said guard being readily removable 2O simply by springing said guard members out of engagement with the container rim, and

being re-engageable with the container with equal ease.

With the foregoing in view, the invention 2 resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, the description being supplemented by the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View of a so. poultry fountain constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. i

In thedrawings above briefly described, 3. the numeral 3 designates a container for drinking water, the upper end of said container being provided with an outstanding rim 4 of any desired configuration. Connected with the lower end of the container 3, is a pipe line 5 provided with an appropriate valve 6 and preferably having a union 7. Near the upper end of the container IS an overflow spout 8 and it will be seen that by opening the valve 6, fresh water is d1scharged into the container and the stale water from the latter will overflow through the outlet spout 8, so that it is an easy matter to substitute fresh for stale and perhaps dirty water. 7

To prevent the poultry from stepping into the container 3, a, guard 9 is provided, said guard embodying a plurality of resilient guard members 10 having U-shaped seats 11 near their lower ends, normally engaged with the edge of the rim 1. Below the seats 11, the guard members preferably slant outwardly as at 12 to facilitate engagement of the guard with the rim 4, simply by downward forcing of said slanted ends against the upper side of the rim. Moreover, the construction of the seats 11 permits removal of the guard simply by pulling it upwardly.

In the preferred form of construction, the guard members 10 are formed by vertical. lower portions of a plurality of resilient wires, said portions being spaced apart along a circular line. a The upper portions 13 of the lengths of wire, converge to a common point and are preferably welded together as denoted at 14;. A cover 15, preferably formed 9 of sheet metal, surrounds all of these upwardly converging wire portions to hold them against spreading, and said cover is preferably secured to the wires by soldering at the points 16.

Attention is invited to the fact that at these points 16, shoulders are provided between the inwardly curved upper ends of the wire portions 10 and the inwardly inclined upper portions 13 0f the wires. These shout ders effectively support the cover 15 in its proper relation with the wires while the latter are being soldered to said cover and hence these features of construction are of important manufacturing advantage.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the invention is exceptionally simple and inexpensive, yet that it will be efficient and very desirable for the intended purposes. As excellent results are obtainable from the details disclosed, they are preferably followed. However, within the scope of the invention as claimed, variations may be made.

I claim-:

1. A container guard having a plurality of vertical resilient" arms between which the poultry may pass only their heads, said arms being relatively fixed at their upper ends but free to spring radially at their lower ends, said arms being formed with U-shaped outwardly bowed container-engaging seats near their lower ends to receive the rim of a container and support said arms with their fixed upper ends spaced above saidcontainer, said lower ends being provided with outwardly declined terminals directly below said seats,

said terminals serving to eifect outward movement ofthe arms upon: downward fO1C ing of the guard upon a container rim, the lower portions of said seats beingdeclined inwardly to effect outward movementof the arms upon upward pulling of the guard from N the container; said arms and their seats constituting the sole attaching; means for the guard,the resiliency of said arms being the sole means for holding their-seatsin-engagementw ith thecontainerrim.

2. A container guard comprisinga plus rality of wires. having vertically elongated portions spaced apart along an annular line sufiiciently to permit poultry to-pass their heads only between' thiem said vertical p01- tions being bent near theirlower ends to provide U-shapedoutwardly bowed containerengagingseats', the lower extremities of said vertical portions being declined outwardly immediately below said: seatsto outwardly force said vertical wire portions upon downward forcing efthe guard uponthecontainer rim, the=lower portions of said seats being inwardly declined to permit; removal of the guard fromthe containerrim by upward pulling upon said guard,'said vertiealwire portions being curved inwardly at their upper ends at points spacedupwardly itrom said seats suflicientlyto permitthe poultry to insert their heads below said points, the upper portions "o tsaid wires beinginclined from said inwarc l'lycurved ends ofsaid vertical' portions to a common central point at which they are secured together, said inclined upper portions of -said wires oining said inwardly curved u p'perendsof'said vertical portions at an a11gl6 tO'- .131OVlCl 6 upwardly facing shoulders, and a-conicalcover-over the full lengths ofsaidup'per inc-lined wire portions, said cover resting at its lo'wer'edge upon and being secured agai-nst said shoulders.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto 'aflixed my signature.

JOHN A. JOH STON. 

